When Rex Bowden wasn’t busy playing, he was watching others in action at his first provincial Heaphy Shield squash tournament.
With a couple of players unavailable, the Tākaka B1competitor got his chance for Nelson and found himself taking on much more experienced players at the Club Waimea Squash courts.
“Four very hard matches in two days, but I loved it. It felt like playing four finals in a row. I got very close to winning one. It was a great experience,” says the 43-year-old, who only took up the sport seven years ago.
“I like the speed and the brutality of squash.”
Rex pushed West Coast’s ageless legend Clark Ellery to five games.
“I crumbled in the fifth,” quips Rex.
Another highlight came when one of his Marlborough rivals told him he had played pretty well.
Rex enjoyed the opportunity to follow other players when he wasn’t on court.
“I watched every game I could to see how good they were. I have amassed 3200 points since I started playing but most of them had over 5,000,” says Rex.
Nelson finished third in the triangular tournament behind the West Coast, which upset defending champions Marlborough.
Rex’s narrow loss to Clark proved vital for the Coasters as their overall victory was just one point.
